one to make you laugh—a clever take on before and after
/“Enjoy the unexpected! This is such a clever and concise book”
Before and after photos are something of a modern obsession—weight loss, home renovations, teeth, hair, even cars (think Pimp My Ride)! We just seem to love looking at change.
My Pictures After The Storm feeds that innate human fascination in a way that is laugh out loud funny. It's fundamentally cheerful and offers such a clever and witty look at life. This is a book that's full of humour, bursting with life and colour, and terrific for thinking about change.
Each spread features some pictures on one page, then on the opposite page the pictures change to reflect what happened after an event such as a storm, an elephant, lunch, magic, correction— and more.
It’s funny stuff and reminds me of the That’s Disgusting series, especially because my teens got just as big a laugh out of it as the littler kids we’ve shared it with.
3 ideas for playing with this book:
If you're reading it with pre-readers, it’s fun to try to guess the event. Some are relatively easy (like ‘after swimming’) and some take some serious imagination (like ‘after the elephant’).
Try coming up with new words to describe the after pictures. The ‘after lunch’ page has ‘yogurt’ on the before page and ‘dregs’ on the after page—maybe there’s another way to describe mostly-eaten yogurt? (Trash, left-overs, remains, or something smarter or unique to your family?)
Enjoy the unexpected! This is such a clever and concise book. In just a few words (mostly nouns at that) a whole story unfolds. On the “after some magic” page a snarky big brother becomes a frog, a handsome prince appears, an annoying teacher gets her comeuppance and dad … turns into a fork! Why? How? What happens next? All fun ideas and questions to explore.
As well as being highly recommended for developing a sense of humour and for growing storytelling abilities, this book makes a great baby shower present. A baby shower book goes over best when there’s something in it for the parents as well as for the future child—and this book is perfect for that. There’s lots to enjoy as an adult, and even more fun awaits when it’s time to share with a child.
Book Depository has free postage anywhere in the world and great pricing, but Amazon might be cheaper for North American readers.
MY PICTURES AFTER THE STORM
by Eric Veille (translated by Daniel Hahn) – Gecko Press, 2017
ages 2 - 8 years / picture books + coffee table, funny, language
